Rick Astley’s lawsuit against Yung Gravy has been settled. According to court documents obtained by People, the suit — which Astley launched back in January — was settled for “an undisclosed sum.” At the heart of the lawsuit is Yung Gravy’s track “Betty (Get Money)”, which begins with a snippet of Astley’s classic “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
However, it’s actually a recreation of the song, sung by a soundalike. READ MORE: Rick Astley Sues Yung Gravy Over Soundalike Imitating His ‘Signature Voice’ That led Astley to sue for copyright infringement, claiming that the rapper (whose real name is Matthew Hauri) used “a deliberate and nearly indistinguishable imitation” of Astley’s voice in “Betty (Get Money)”. “The public could not tell the difference.
The imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice was so successful the public believed it was actually Mr. Astley singing,” the lawsuit asserted, also alleging that the soundalike — singer Popnick, whose real name is Nick Seeley — represented “an effort to capitalize off of the immense popularity and goodwill of Mr.
Astley.” The suit added, “A license to use the original underlying musical composition does not authorize the stealing of the artist’s voice in the original recording.
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